Fantasy Mutant
by Ivorcheneb
Summary: Jessica was pleased to say she was the most popular girl in school, she had everything anyone would ever want until her life was turned upside down when a disaster occured and everything she knew and loved was left behind.
1. Default Chapter

"The next swim meet will be on Monday." I heard the overhead speaker say. My heart raced as I thought about it, I loved to swim, not to mention I was good at it. I had been undefeated all my life, I've never lost a single race and I've broken all the records by atleast 3 seconds.  
"Jess! Jess!" My friend called to me.  
"Oh, hey Amanda! What's up?"  
"I want to invite you to my birthday party!" She handed me a pink envelope decorated with balloons and confetti.  
"Thanks 'Manda! I'll see if I can come."  
"Places everyone! Places!" Mrs. Musica yelled over the classes murmur of talk. It got quiet immediately as Choir began. Did I mention I was the best singer in Choir class? Well I am. I was also considered one of the hottest girls in school, not that I enjoyed that part much. So many guys fawned over me every day asking if they could buy me an ice cream and what not, it's enough to drive someone mad. I can't imagine anyone enjoying a bunch of guys following you around everywhere you went trying to impress you with their mad stunts.  
We sang our songs for the upcoming concert in which I had 3 solos.  
Choir was soon over, "I wish I could sing as well as you could!" Amanda said to me as we left.  
"Thanks, but it does have its downfalls." I replied.  
"What could possibly be a downfall of being the best singer in class?"  
"You get all the solos, you have to practice twice as hard as any other person in class. And everyone's watching you, if you get a single note wrong it wrecks your reputation."  
"Oh, I never thought about that. Well, see ya!"  
"Bye." We both turned and went down separate halls to get to our next class.  
  
The rest of the classes went by dull and boring. Everything I heard wasn't comprehended as I sat there staring blankly at the white boards of each class. Until I got to the gym for swim practice. I got down to the gym and stretched with the other girls on the team.  
"Alright, today we're just going to do some laps, do as many as you can before we have to leave today!" The coach told us, with that she blew her whistle and we all dove into the water to start our laps. I started in the lead, like always, but something was wrong. I couldn't tell what it was; I kept on swimming to try to shake it off.  
"Race you a lap!" Amanda called to me and we were off. I decided to go easy on her, I went her pace and stayed tied with her. All of a sudden my lungs filled with water. I started to cough and sputter but kept swimming. I tried to breathe in air, but it just made it worse. I started to slow down, the coughing went away and I caught back up with Amanda. She looked over to me. Her eyes widened in horror, "Jess! You're breathing out water!" I grew horrified too as I realized I wasn't breathing in air, I was breathing in water. When my head came out of the water, I was just breathing it back out! I tried to breathe in the air again, I started choking and suffocating again. Amanda left me completely and started yelling for the coach. I stuck my head underwater and started breathing normally.  
"What's happening to me?" I thought to myself, horrified. Other swimmers stopped and stared at me sitting there under the water.  
"She's drowning herself!" I could hear a mumbled voice say above the water. I could hear the coach blow her whistle for the others to move out of the way.  
"She can't pull me out of the water, I'll die!" I thought to myself, I bolted from the place I was at, I swam as fast as I could to the other side of the pool.  
"She really is drowning herself!" I could hear the coach yell as she started her way over to me. I sat there, I looked down at my arms, and they looked fine. I looked down at my legs, "Those are not fine!" I said aloud, no bubbles coming out of my mouth. My legs were green! If they weren't that color they would be fine though, but still, they were GREEN! I started to panic, the coach drew nearer to me, I tried to swim around her but she grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head out of the water. I started to gag and choke, I fought with her to make her let go but she wouldn't. She was determined to not let me 'drown'. She didn't see my legs though, she didn't see that anything was wrong with me. I clawed at her face, she had to let me go! I drew my hand back and then slapped her as hard as I could. She let go, her face in her hands, I ducked my head down under the water and swam to a different side of the pool.  
Everyone had completely forgotten about their laps and was watching intently on what would happen next.  
"Go get the principal Amanda!" The coach shouted to her, I didn't hear anything. It was quiet after that, nobody spoke. I sat there underwater, waiting for what was going to happen next. My heart slowed, I looked at my legs, and they were going back to my natural color. I took another inhale of breath and choked, I couldn't breathe underwater! I came back to the surface, coughing out the water I just inhaled and got out of the pool. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me and sat down on a bench. As I sat, the principal ran through the open doors, held by Amanda. The principal's face was red, from what, I didn't know. The coach and the principal walked over to me, I put my face in my hands as I started to cry. What went wrong with me?  
"Jessica, come with me to my office!" The principal almost yelled at me. She grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me to my feet. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Now, what's this I here about trying to kill yourself?" She threw me into a chair, she took the seat opposite of me.  
"I wasn't trying to kill myself! I was trying to stay alive if anything!" I tried to explain.  
"So keeping your head underwater for more than 5 minutes is trying to keep yourself alive?" The principal's face was turning red. I was about to respond when the counselor walked through the door.  
"Mrs. Juniper, I'll handle it from here." He said to the principal, she waved him off and he led me to his office.  
"For crying out loud." I mumbled to myself as I took a seat now in his office.  
"Now, will you tell me what happened?" He looked into my eyes calmly, like everything was all right.  
"Nothing happened, I was just doing the normal swim routine." I lied, what was I going to say? That I was mutating into something? Mutating! Was I a mutant then?  
My eyes grew wide, a mutant! What would my parents think? Would I be the freak of the family? Would my popularity at school diminish? What would my boyfriend think?  
"Jessica? Are you all right?" The counselor leaned forward in his seat.  
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just realized that trying to commit suicide was totally the wrong way to go." I lied; I just wanted to leave his office.  
"That a girl!" He smiled and patted me on the back. "I'll give you a pass to go back to the girls locker room to get in proper clothing for school." He handed me a pass and I left, wrapping my towel tighter around me. I walked down the halls, the bell hadn't wrung yet for us to go to our next class, but it was going to any second now. I reached the girl's locker room and got into normal clothes, I tried to ignore the stares from all the other girls, but it was making my nervous. I pretended not to see them and went over to a mirror to put on my make up.  
"Jess?" It was Amanda, her voice was shaky and she was really pale.  
"Yeah?" I replied.  
"Are you.all right?"  
"Yeah, I feel great, why do you ask?"  
"Well, you didn't seem all right during our swim." She looked at me, searching for what was going on.  
"Nothing happened." I said negatively, Amanda shrugged her shoulders and walked off when the bell buzzed.  
Great, Geometry. I thought to myself as I turned a corner and ran straight into Chris.  
"Jessica!" He said, his face lit up in a smile.  
"Hey! How's it going?" I asked.  
"Nothing, well, another swimmer on your team said that you acted really funny today. What happened?" He asked.  
"I can't talk about it right now, I gotta get to class, I'll tell you at lunch Ok?" I gave him a short hug, not to be noticed by the teachers. He wrapped his arms around me and after that we went our separate ways.  
"May I get a drink before class starts?" I asked the teacher, my throat had gone dry.  
"Sure, but come back quickly!" She replied, I took the pass and left.  
As I was getting a drink a wave of nausea came over me and once it came, it was gone. I stopped drinking and patted my mouth dry. I sighed, or tried to. It came in a gasp, it was happening again! I stuck my head under the poring water from the water fountain. I breathed the water; it felt cool in my lungs. A rush of relief came over me as the gasp of air went away. I didn't realize that a line of people waited behind me.  
"Hey! Hurry up!" The guy behind me angrily said. I shook my head, he didn't understand, I needed the water, I would die without it. The others in the row started to complain as well.  
"It's our turn now! We're going to be late for class!" The guy behind me grabbed the back of my shirt and shoved me out of the way. Air filled my lungs, I started to cough and choke. I closed my mouth I tried not to breathe the air. I got to my feet and ran to the nearest girl's bathroom. I turned on the faucet and filled my cupped hands with water. I sucked it up and reached down to get more. After that I went ahead and stuck my head under the faucet again. A chill ran through my body, it felt like I had gotten goose bumps. I held my breath, or whatever, and looked down. My legs were turning green again! I opened my mouth to scream, but only a squeak came out with water. I started to choke again, I got dizzy and when I tried to get my head under the water again everything went black.  
"What happened?" I thought to myself the second before I hit the ground.  
  
I woke up in a coughing fit, I couldn't breath again, only this time it was because I didn't have any air.  
"Get her out! Get her out!" I heard a voice say. I swam to the surface of the water. I felt a hand grab me by the back of the shirt and lift me out. I landed on the hard floor, I coughed up water and rolled onto my back, exhausted. I waited for my eyes to come into focus. I felt the goose bumps on my legs go away, I looked down, I had a tail. It was transforming back into legs. Good thing I was wearing a skirt today.  
"Jess! Jess! Are you feeling all right?"  
"Where am I?" I asked wearily.  
"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." My eyes widened, I looked up at who was talking to me. It was a guy in a wheel chair. My vision was going fuzzy, I tried to move my leg, and all it did was twitch.  
"I've tried to contact your parents, they haven't picked up yet. I left our number for them to call us back though."  
My soul felt sad, my heart felt like it had sunk into my stomach. "Why me?" I mumbled to myself angrily.  
"It's not all that bad, this way you can meet new friends and learn to look at the world in a different perspective." He said optimistically, "Follow me, I'll show you to your room."  
"My room? You're talking about my room at my house right?"  
"No, I'm talking about your room here, you'll have to stay here until we can talk to your parents." I let out a low groan as I clumsily got to my feet. The blood rushed from my head and I fell to my knees with a thump.  
"She's light Cyclops, you can carry her." The man called over his shoulder.  
"Oh alright Professor." I saw someone come out of the corner, he wore a pair of red shades. As he picked me up I asked, "So, what brings you to this school?"  
"I have an eye condition." He replied.  
"That's it? You came here only because you have an eye problem?"  
"Yup."  
"That's stupid, I would've just gone to the eye doctor or something.  
"I did."  
"And?"  
"And I blew his hand off." His arms grew tense.  
"Oh."  
"Here's the room you can stay in. It is also Kitty's room, I think you two will get along fine." Xavier said, Cyclops laid me on the bed and left. "Don't forget, you will always be welcome here if anything happens."  
"Yeah, alright." I replied, I stayed awake long enough to here the door shut. 


	3. Chapter 3

I looked at the clock; it read 6:00 AM. I felt rested though, going to sleep at 4 yesterday. I sat up and looked over, in the other bed was a girl. Her head was the only thing visible; she had dark brown hair that went past her shoulders. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, I was still in my clothes from yesterday. I looked around. There was almost a double of everything. I sat in a bed on one side of the room; she was in one on the other side. There was a dresser on her side and on my side, as well as closets. In the middle however there was one bathroom. I got out of bed and stretched. I was thirsty, but I was afraid to drink water, afraid of what would happen.  
I stepped out into the hall; it was the same in both directions, doors and doors and doors. I went right, I walked down the hall, and I tried to go quietly so that I wouldn't awake anyone somehow. At the end of the hallway there was a door space and past that was a TV room. The TV was on so I went in.  
"What's your name?" A boy was sitting on the couch.  
"I'm Jessica." I said, "What's yours?"  
"I'm Tom. What brings you here?"  
"Umm, well, I found my power I guess."  
"What do you do?"  
"I dunno exactly, you could say that I am a mermaid I guess."  
"Well sit down, I'm trying to find a good station."  
"Why are you awake at 6 in the morning?"  
"I don't sleep, ever."  
We settled on the movie Gladiator and were at the very end when people started to wake up.  
"Mornin' Tom." A woman walked in, her hair white as snow.  
"Ah, you must be Jessica, the professor told me all about you. I'm Storm."  
"Nice to meet you." I smiled, "I like your hair." Storm smiled and walked into the kitchen. I turned my head back to the TV screen but soon pulled it away again to see two more people walk in.  
"Hi, I'm Jean, and this is Scott." A girl with red hair walked in with the guy I met last night.  
"Cyclops?"  
"Yup." He smiled and they too walked into the kitchen.  
The people who had walked into the kitchen turned their heads to see me run as fast as I could to hide behind the kitchen table  
"MONSTER!" I yelled. Everyone burst into laughter. "What? I'm serious!" I yelled, confused.  
"That's Beast." Storm giggled as he walked into the room. My eyes were wide with terror.  
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you or anything." Beast said as he took a seat at the table, the chair sagging under his weight. I didn't say anything back to him; I just stared as him.  
"What would you like for breakfast?" My head turned to Storm.  
"Oh, Uh, what is there?"  
"Cereal in the pantry, bread for toast, eggs in the fridge, help yourself." She pointed out where the bowls were after I chose cereal. I helped myself to a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and sat silently as I thought of what everyone's 'gift' would be. I was awakened from my thoughts with a loud 'Poof'. The table shook and right infront of me a blue boy stood, he had a long tail and only 3 fingers. "AAAAAHH!" I ran from my chair and out of my room.  
"First blue Hong Kong's and then blue devil's, what next?" I thought. I started running down the hall back to my room as fast as I could. 'Poof' the blue boy appeared right infront of me. "EEK!" I tried to stop but I couldn't and I ran right into him. We both fell to the ground with a loud thud. At first I thought I was having an asthma attack from breathing hard, but then I realized that it wasn't asthma. I was choking. I looked over at the blue guy, I tried to tell him that I needed some water, but nothing understandable came out of my mouth. His eyes grew wide in panic; "You can't control it." It was almost to himself.  
"Duh I can't control it!" I thought. Almost turning blue, I started to hurry back down the hall I came from. The blue guy knew what I was doing I guess. He wrapped his arms around my waist, in less than a second I was in a tunnel of wind and light. In the next second I was standing on the island of the kitchen. I pushed Jean out of the way of the sink and turned the water on full blast. The sink was plugged so as I had my head under the sink it started to fill. Scott turned off the water; the sink was starting to overflow. I dunked my head in it; I gave a sigh of relief. I heard worried, mumbled voices. I couldn't tell what they were saying though, I just kept on breathing the water. I tried to stop it, I wanted to choke on the water. My legs started to feel cold, like they had goose bumps. I felt my eyes changing too, I began to see clearly under the water, like how I saw normally. I closed my eyes. This has to stop! My legs gave way and my jaw got whacked against the sink as I fell to the ground. I flopped on the ground like a fish out of water. Go figure, I was a fish out of water! I reached up and tried to grab the edge of the counter to pull myself up but I wasn't strong enough. I frantically flopped on the ground, desperate for water. In mid flop I froze, my eyes searched for the reason. It was fuzzy, I couldn't see right out of water. I was lifted off the ground, but nothing was there to lift me. I rose to the height of the counter, everything lying on it somehow floated to the island and I was placed in their stead. I lay on the counter, my head under the water. I cleared my mind of everything, of the blue guy, of the beast, everything. I felt my heart rate go down, my breathing slowed. I closed my eyes again and relaxed everything. I was on the verge of falling asleep when I swallowed a load of water. I opened my eyes and brought my head out of the water. Coughing and sputtering I sat up. Everyone in the room had frozen and turned their head to look at me.  
"How embarrassing." I thought as I put my head in my hands. I felt someone's hand rest on my shoulder, I looked up to see a tall blur staring at me, and my eyes hadn't changed yet. I blinked to try to clear it but it was all in vein.  
"Professor Xavier wants to see you." I heard his voice, and it was Scott. I nodded and started to get off of the counter.  
"I'll take you if you want." The blue guy said. Before I could even answer he put my arm over his shoulder and in a whirl of wind I was in an office. I was helped to a chair while the professor started to talk.  
"First off I want to say sorry for what happened. I could've helped you and I wasn't there." He said. How he could've helped me I had no clue. "Your parents called me back, they want to talk to you." He pointed to a phone, I walked over and dialed the number.  
"Hello?" I heard my mom ask.  
"Hi! It's me."  
"Jessica! Darling, are you all right? We heard about what happened."  
"Yeah, I'm all right, I'm at some school, I'm ready to come home now."  
"Wait, before we come and pick you up I think you should stay with Professor Xavier for a while, he may help you."  
"Wonderful." I replied sarcastically.  
"Just stay for a week longer, I'll drop by some clothes and stuff for you later today. I have to go now, take care! I love you!"  
"I love you too, bye." We both hung up. After I took my seat again the Professor said:  
"Are there any questions you want to ask me?"  
"How did I get here?"  
"After someone saw you in the bathroom unconscience they sent for the nurse. Once she saw you she knew you were a mutant and drove you here personally. Apparently there have been quite a few mutants from that school."  
"Did they all come here?"  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"They didn't want to."  
"Do some of them still go to that school?"  
"Oh yes, many of them."  
"So I can still go to school? And not be noticed?"  
"If you stay here long enough to control yourself then I don't see why not."  
A smile spread across my face, he told me I could go and I left the room. I concentrated on my breathing as I reentered the kitchen. Everyone was still there, talking over his or her morning breakfast.  
"Doin' alright?" Scott asked looking over at me. I nodded and sat myself down infront of my cereal bowl, the contents soggy.  
"Sorry for scaring you, it happens all the time." The monster across from me said.  
"No problem." I said quietly.  
"I'm Kitty, your room mate for now." A girl waved from the corner, brown hair falling below her shoulders, and still messy from sleeping.  
I nodded to her. "Nice to meet you."  
"And I'm Nightcrawler." The blue devil waved.  
"Thanks for your help."  
"It's Saturday isn't it?" Nightcrawler asked.  
"Yes." Jean replied.  
"Hey! You want me to show you around? Get to know each other better?" Kitty asked.  
"Sure!" I replied, I might as well know where to go everyday. 


	4. Chapter 4

".And this is where we keep the jet." Kitty said to me as she opened the door at the end of the corridor. I stared in awe at the magnificence of it all, it was the biggest, blackest jet I had ever seen.  
"Now that is cool!" I started to walk around it. "How often do you fly in this thing?"  
"Whenever there's an emergency, like a powerful mutant is spotted or something."  
"Sweet!"  
"Come on, there's still more to see!" We walked out the door, I was soon lost again in the maze of hallways. "This is our computer lab. It's the place where all the boring stuff goes on, like research and stuff."  
"Hey, can Yall chat online?" I asked.  
"Sure, if you have your own computer." She noted, I had one, but it was at home.  
"Darn, I wanted to say hi to Chris."  
"Let me guess, your boyfriend?" Kitty smirked as we walked back out of the room.  
"Yeah."  
"Let's see, you all ready know where the kitchen is and where the TV room is. So all that's left is the danger room and outside." Kitty almost said to herself.  
"The danger room?"  
"It's basically where we train and get more control over our 'gifts'" She led me through a long corridor and up some stairs. "I won't let you in the danger room because that starts it and you would be completely defenseless." She pushed a button and the door opened.  
"This is where the professors control what's going on." She pointed to the seat.  
"Goodness, there are so many buttons!" All different colors, red, blue purple, green.  
I looked through the window, it looked like an empty room, and the floor was made of steel plates, as well as the walls and the ceiling. "It doesn't look too dangerous."  
"Yeah, right now it doesn't, but there are things behind the plates that come up like guns and lasers and stuff like that. It gets pretty hectic if you know what I mean." We left the room and headed down the stairs. "Now all that's left is to go outside."  
We were heading down a hallway to get to the entrance hall when a door opened and before I knew it I had collided with someone.  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" I heard the guy say as I caught myself from falling.  
"Jessica?" I recognized the voice.  
"Chris?" I turned around, and there he was. It was so surreal, I felt like I was dreaming.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I would like to ask the same."  
"I gotta go, I'll show you the grounds later." Kitty said as she walked through the door to her room. We watched her disappear and then turned back to each other.  
"I didn't know you went here!" I said to him, "So, out with it, what do you do?"  
"Alright, alright, I." His voice faded away, "I'll show you." He walked up to the wall and put his hand on it. Then he put his other hand and a foot. He sighed and pushed his foot off of the ground and onto the wall.  
"Woah." I said as he climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling. He dropped his hands and he hung there by his feet, meeting me eye to eye.  
"Now you know what kind of a freak I really am." He said seriously.  
"No, you aren't a freak at all! And if you are, I'm more of a freak than you are." I said, "We can be freaks together!" I laughed. Chris smiled and he jumped down, doing a flip to land on his feet. 


	5. Chapter 5

"So when did you get here?" Chris asked.  
"Yesterday sometime, I think it might have been during school." I replied.  
"Have you met everybody yet?"  
"No, I've only met a few people so far."  
"Some of them went off to help another mutant, they'll be back soon though." As he spoke, the whole building gave a tremble as the sound of an explosion filled the air.  
"What was that?" I ran to a window and looked out. There was a struggle going on outside. There were 3 people, a teenage girl, she looked gothic but I couldn't tell from there. There was also a man with. long fingernails? And someone else, he was the one causing trouble, I think. All around him the defense systems had gone off and were going haywire, they weren't even shooting at him.  
"Maybe the defense system has a glitch." Chris said almost reading my mind. The guy with claws said something and the girl took off her glove and grabbed the third guys hand. He gave out a loud yell; I could actually hear it above the machine guns. The color from his face went away and the girl let go to watch him fall to the ground with a thud. Immediately, the defense system stopped and went back into hiding. The man's claws went away under his gloves and picked the now unconscience teen and carried him inside, with the girl walking slowly behind him. There was something different about her now, but I couldn't tell what it was, she shook her head and entered the mansion.  
"Who was that?" I asked, my eyes wide.  
"That was Rogue and Wolverine, and the other mutant I told you about." He replied, his voice full of awe, "I wonder what kind of powers he has to make the systems go all wacky like that."  
"There's only one way to find out!" I smiled, "Let's go and meet them!"  
"That's crazy! What if he's still dangerous?"  
"Not him, the other people!" I started walking down the hall and noticed that Chris didn't follow. I turned around to see what he was doing; he just stood there smiling at me.  
"If you want to go meet them, you're going the wrong way."  
"Oh," I laughed. We walked to the entrance hall, once I saw them up close I stopped in my tracks. Chris turned and looked at me, "What's up?"  
The man was tall and bulky; he wore a leather jacket and jeans with boots. His hair was in a strange style, like he had ears or horns or something. His clenched fist swinging at his side wore a glove with three slits between the fingers and he had a scowl across his face. He carried the teenage man as if it didn't hinder him at all.  
"That's Wolverine." Chris whispered to me as we backed up against the wall. Wolverine heard and turned to look at us, his eyes met mine, and they were as cold as a midwinter's night. A shiver went up my spine as I looked away. I heard a different set of feet across the floor and looked up to see the girl, she was putting her glove back on. She looked about my age, her hair fell a little past her shoulders and there were two white streaks as bangs. She had heavy eye shadow and purple lipstick. She had a troubled look on her face and shook her head once again as if trying to rid herself of a bad memory.  
"And that is Rogue." Chris whispered as they left through some doors.  
"Let's go." I said to him, I started to walk when I heard the honking of a car. We walked out the front doors and in the distance there was a car, it was my mom's! I jogged down the path; a smile lit my face.  
"Mom! Dad!" I cried to them as I reached the gate.  
"Jessica!" My mom said, her voice was somewhat less happy then usual.  
"Are you here to take me home? What brings you?"  
"We are here to leave you your stuff." Dad responded as he opened up the trunk. He took out box after box, more than just clothes, but all my favorite stuffed animals, awards, and my 'special box' with all my prized possessions inside it.  
"Isn't this a little much for just staying here a little while?" I asked quizzically.  
"It turns out that it will be a little more than just a little while." My mom said as her voice cracked and her nose turned red.  
"How long then?" I asked unhappily.  
"Until you can fend for yourself." Dad replied with an almost hard tone. He unloaded the last box and shut the trunk.  
"What do you mean? Why can't I come back with you?"  
None of my parents responded, my mom just started bawling and dad's eyes turned cold as he got back into the car. Mom slowly followed, she opened the door and looked back as me.  
"What's going on?" I asked, fear growing inside of me with every breath. Mom came and gave me a hug; she almost clung to me as if she didn't want to leave me here. She had to let go as Dad honked the horn for her to hurry. She slowly let go and looked into my eyes.  
"Goodbye Jessica, I love you." She let go and turned to hop in the car. The door didn't even shut when Dad started to drive off. I understood now. That was the last time I would ever see them again. A tear slid down my cheek and I sat down on a box with my head in my hands. My throat caught and I started to choke, I lifted my head and tried to breathe, and then I heard a voice inside my head.  
"Stay calm, I'm with you to help you now." The voice said to me, it was as clear as if someone were actually speaking to me.  
"Focus on your breathing, don't try to fight it, you won't win." It felt like I was having an asthma attack, only I wasn't getting air at all. I tried to concentrate, I really did, but it wasn't working. I could feel the pressure building in my head.  
"Concentrate!" The voice said calmly.  
"On what?" I thought to myself.  
"Think of a good time, of going to the beach, or playing with friends."  
I remembered the time at school when I met Amanda; she sat all alone in a corner. I went and sat down with her at lunch, we were instant friends. I remembered what she told me, she told me all about her day. It wasn't too good; she was made fun of all the time. I remember telling her that I would be her friend and that I would always be there for her. I started to breathe normally again, I looked up at the sky, a bird flew peacefully through the air. Chris walked and sat down infront of me.  
"Are you all right?" He asked, wiping away my tears. I gave a little smile, "Yeah." 


	6. Chapter 6

Chris and I picked up boxes and moved them into the main entrance. Chris listened to every word I said as I told him what happened.  
"That's kind of what happened to me." He replied as I finished my story. "They came and then left, didn't even say goodbye."  
"That sounds awful."  
"I don't regret it, I don't feel sad from it or anything."  
"Then what do you feel?"  
"Emptiness," Chris' soft brown eyes turned hard and his teeth clenched, "and hate."  
"Ah, Jessica, I was hoping I would find you." I heard someone say.  
"Professor Xavier?" I looked up the stairs; he was sitting in his wheel chair at the top, "Oh yeah, thanks for the help."  
"It turns out you won't be in Kitty's room, I'll have to place you to the room next to it. I forgot that Rogue was in that room all ready." Xavier gave a sheepish smile. I laughed, "Ok then, where do I go?"  
"You'll be in the next corridor, 3 doors down from Storms room. Chris, you can show her where it is. I have things to attend to, I'll talk to you later." He wheeled his wheelchair around and left. As soon as he was out of ear distance, Chris burst out laughing.  
"What's so funny?"  
"I can't believe he forgot Rogue shared rooms with Kitty! That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!"  
I didn't get it, were they best friends or something?  
"Ok, so where is my room now?"  
"Follow me." He said whipping his tears. We each grabbed a box and headed up the stairs. "My room is in this hall too, 6 doors down I think. First one on your left." He led my to my room, I set down the box right outside the door and he did the same.  
"Let's get them all up here first." I suggested; he nodded and we soon brought the rest up.  
"I think that will take up for my workout today." Chris joked as he looked at his watch, "Well, I gotta go, I have a practice thing to go to."  
"Bye." I waved, wondering what a 'practice thing' was. I turned and opened my door, it had the same beds and dressers as the other room did. This one wasn't occupied by anyone though, I have a room all to myself, cool! I thought as I dragged my boxes in. Once I had them all inside I shut the door and started opening each one to see what my parents left me. The first one I opened I looked inside and frowned, "I guess my parents still want me to go to school." It had my binder, my pencil bag and all my schoolbooks inside. "How boring, I hope none of the rest of my boxes are like these." I looked around at the floor of boxes to pick the next one, one caught my eye and I knew exactly which one it was.  
"My Special Box!" I smiled and picked it up. My special box was a box that I kept all my important stuff in, like souvenirs, awards, letters, and old diaries that I'd filled up. Looking through it, I made sure it was all there, and it was. With my heart gladdened I slipped the box under my bed, where it would stay.  
Most of the other boxes were filled with clothes and make-up and stuff like that. I emptied the boxes and put the contents in the proper places. One of my boxes had all my stuffed animals in it, I took out my most favorite stuffed horse and put it on my bed. The rest I placed along the dresser and in odds and ends around the room, same with the framed photos I had. The very last thing in my last box was my alarm clock, which I immediately plugged in and set the time.  
With a sigh, I stood up and looked around the room, it looked almost as good as my normal room, except my stereo was gone. It was a cool stereo too, it was a good sound system and held 3 CD's, 2 tapes, and had the AM and FM radio. Oh well, atleast they gave me my CD player and my CD's.  
My stomach growled, I looked at my alarm clock, it was 2:03.  
"Goodness, no wonder, I was skipping lunch!" I said to myself, I left my room and walked down the corridor to the kitchen. Storm was there, eating her lunch as well.  
"Ah, you eat late meals too I see." She smiled as I sat down next to her after making a PB & J sandwich. I took a few bites, not saying anything, just pondering over myself and being left.  
"Were you abandoned?" I asked abruptly, Storm put down her glass of water and stared at me, "If you don't mind me asking." I finished.  
"No, not really." She set her cup down and thought on it for a while. "I used to live in Africa, with a tribe."  
"That's cool."  
"I controlled weather for them, I was sort of like a goddess. Then the white people came." She looked over too me, "no offense or anything."  
"And it only gets worse, right?" I predicted.  
"For a while, yeah, they captured me. It was only torture, and I couldn't escape."  
"Man, tough luck."  
"I eventually got loose though and found Xavier, and everything has been good since."  
"Cool." I said with a mouthful of sandwich. My throat was dry so I got up and filled a glass of water. I was about to take a drink when I stopped myself. What if it happened again? What if I couldn't save myself? What if no one else could save me? I put the glass down on the table and stared at it. Storm saw me, "Are you afraid?"  
"I don't want it to happen again."  
"All you have to do is clear your mind, don't think of anything dramatic. Just take a drink and that's all."  
I picked up the glass, How stupid, I'm afraid of water. I thought as I brought the cup to my lips. I tried not to think about it, I could feel the weight of it in the back of my mind. I swallowed, the memories started coming to me. I only tried to push them back. It's only water. I told myself as I swallowed more. I pushed the thoughts back to the back of my mind and tried to keep them there. Finally I finished and set the glass down.  
"There you go!" Storm smiled, "Soon you won't have to have even a second thought about it. It'll be like you're normal again."  
"I sure hope that day comes soon, if I have to do all that work just to drink water, I'm in trouble!" I said seriously but couldn't help but smile at my accomplishment. 


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the day was normal and boring. After dinner I went to bed early since I had gotten up at 6 that morning. When I awoke, it was 9 in the morning and on my dresser was a bunch of cards. With a puzzled look on my face I sat up and picked one up at a time. One was from Storm, it was light purple and in glittery, curly letters it said, "Welcome" and inside it said,  
  
Dear Jessica,  
Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters! I'm so glad that we found you, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you better! If you need anything or have any questions don't be afraid to come and talk to me!  
Sincerely,  
Storm  
  
There was also one from Jean Grey, which was a picture of a mermaid on a rock on the coast, it read:  
  
Dear Jessica,  
Finally, a cool mutant shows up! You're lucky to have such a cool gift, soon you will be able to use it well and be like the mythical mermaids in the stories!  
Can't wait to know you better,  
Jean Grey  
  
Like the mermaids in the stories? I had never thought of that, maybe they would hold some answers! There were two cards left, one was another welcome card from Nightcrawler:  
  
Hey Jessica!  
I'm glad you came to this school, even though you don't like it much so far. Stick around some though, it gets better, I promise!  
See you later,  
Nightcrawler  
  
And the last was from Chris, it was a blue card with a heart made in red glitter on the cover:  
  
Jessica,  
I'm glad that you came here, this way I can be with you more and we can spend more time with each other, maybe help on each other's powers. I'm sorry I never told you of my gift before, I didn't know how you would react, I thought you wouldn't like me.  
Love,  
Chris  
  
Not like him anymore? I didn't think that was possible. Smiling, I set the last card on the dresser and headed out of the room, it was Sunday today.  
The hallway was empty, all the doors were closed; it seemed the mansion hadn't awakened yet. I walked into the TV room where I saw Tom again, flipping through the channels without a remote.  
"Hi," he said, I returned the greeting and sat down.  
"Is no one awake yet?" I asked.  
"Most of the professors are, but since there are no classes on Sunday mornings, most of the students are still asleep.  
"Let's watch this, I like Disney movies!" Tom said as he flipped to The Little Mermaid. It wouldn't be likely that the movie would hold any answers for me but I watched it with him anyway. Ariel was a good singer, was that common in all mermaids? Is that why I am a good singer? She was also very beautiful, is that why all the guys at school fawn over me? It would have to be answered through more intense research.  
"Mornin' ya'll" A voice sounded behind us, I turned my head to see Nightcrawler, unfortunately still in his boxers of red and white stripes.  
"Good morning!" I smiled back, stifling a laugh and turned back to the TV screen. I heard a Poof, and then another and Nightcrawler appeared in a chair and watched as well.  
"I'm not much for cartoons," Nightcrawler shrugged and Poofed himself into the kitchen for breakfast. I turned back to the TV screen, Ariel's dad was going berserk over having human possessions. Emotions flooded my mind of my dad driving away, my mom hugging me for the last time. I couldn't stand it, I had to leave before I lost control.  
Walking into the kitchen I wiped my eyes got stuff out for a bowl of cereal. I sat down with a thump, the bowl and cereal banging against the table. Soon I was munching stressfully on a bite of cereal. All the while, Nightcrawler was staring at me worriedly.  
"Are you, all right?" He asked quietly, he seemed to want to reach out to me, but hesitated. I rested my head in my hand and spoon cereal in my mouth with the other and nodded. He gave me a worried look but didn't say anything more.  
After a few minutes Chris walked in, "Hey," he said to me.  
"Hey!" I replied, giving him the best smile I could for a depressed state. He grabbed a couple slices of bread and stuck them in the toaster and turned it on. He looked over to Nightcrawler and gave him the most malicious glare it unnerved me. I looked down at my bowl, then at Nightcrawler, he was staring at his bowl too with an even more upset look then before. He didn't even finish his cereal when he vanished from the chair in a puff of blue smoke. What happened? Why did Chris glare at him like that? I pretended I didn't see anything as Chris brought his now buttered toast to the chair beside me and started eating.  
"So did you get my card?" He asked in between chewing toast.  
"Yes, thank you, it was so sweet! But I would never stop loving you, even if you had shown me your powers." I told him the simple truth, and yet he smiled happily to himself, a smile sweet and irresistible.  
"I could kiss you," he said after he swallowed another bite of toast.  
"You know I don't know how to kiss, and if I did I wouldn't want you to kiss me with toast in between your teeth!" I laughed and without thinking, drank the milk left in the bowl after eating all the cereal. Putting the bowl down on the table I gasped. Chris looked up from his next slice of toast with a puzzled look on his face. I just drank without turning mutating! Or maybe it was because it was milk and not water? I didn't know and I didn't care! I had just drunk a bowl of milk! I started laughing hysterically, Chris' puzzled look became even more puzzled before he started laughing with me, even though he didn't know why.  
"What?" He asked.  
"I just drank a bowl of milk!" I told him, still laughing, he laughed even more at the ridiculous reason for laughing. 


	8. Chapter 8

Since it was Sunday Professor Xavier wasn't having any sessions going on where I could get a grip on my powers. So I figured I would just lie low today and try not to go through anything that would cause me to flip out (Even though my parents had abandoned me, I was sent to a freaky school and my legs turned green if I drank a glass of water.). I spent my day wandering through the campgrounds, making a map in my head of the enormous mansion. For a while I went to the Danger Room, into the control center. Xavier was there, sitting in his wheelchair watching the people below.  
"Hello Jessica," He said without turning his head.  
"You can call me Jess," I replied as I went to his side.  
"Would you like to watch? I started the program for them so they could train today."  
"Who are they? I can't recognize everyone yet, and I want to get to know everyone ASAP." I smiled, they were all moving to fast and there were so many guns and explosions going on I was afraid for them.  
"The one running through the guns and messing with the wires it Kitty or Kate, she was the one you stayed with the first night. The one with the large claws jumping over the large wall is Wolverine, also known as Logan. The blue one who is. . .everywhere, I suppose, is Nightcrawler, also known as Kurt. And the girl with the bright, red hair blocking the bullets there, is Jean."  
"That's insane!" I replied, I was very glad that I wasn't in there, I don't know what I would do if I was. "So, what's the purpose of this 'Danger Room'?"  
"It is made so that you can learn to have more control over your powers and learn to defend yourself in a time when you need it."  
"So when does it. . .end?"  
"When either everyone is defeated, or all the weapons are stopped, or the simulation ends."  
With a large blast, a laser hit Nightcrawler just as he appeared next to Kitty. He crumpled to the ground, not fainted, just in severe pain. I let out a gasp. Kitty stayed next to him, touched his arm and every single bullet that went there way went right through them and into the floor. I let out a sigh, they weren't getting hurt worse.  
"It also teaches them to work together and help each other," Xavier smiled, though a look of slight worry was on his face.  
A few minutes later the Danger Room went back to the black tiles and everyone stood in the empty room, either hanging onto others or panting with weariness. Xavier held down a button and spoke:  
"Good job everyone, Kurt, you can go to the infirmary for medical attention, rest now and be ready for sessions tomorrow." He let the button go, the people in the room below nodded their comprehension and limped out of the door.  
That was the only event of the day, a nice and relaxing one for my part. While wandering I walked into Chris, who was heading to the kitchen for lunch.  
"Hey Chris!" I said as I saw him ahead of me in the hallway, he turned and when he saw me his face turned into a smile.  
"Hi Jess, have you had lunch yet?"  
"No,"  
"Come on then, I was going to have a grilled cheese sandwich!"  
We walked to the kitchen together and I sat down as he made me a grilled cheese too.  
"Chris?" I asked. He nodded to show he was listening, "Have you ever lost control of your powers?"  
He was silent for a while in thought, "One time I was sleepwalking and I ended up on the ceiling, that was when I first discovered my powers and my parents went ballistic." He frowned at the thought, "Then there was another time I was at school and I tripped over something, I can't remember what, and I let my hand touch the wall. It got stuck there somehow and in the next moment I had both legs on the wall and I couldn't get down. I was stuck there hanging on the wall, and it was right next to Mrs. Brown's room, and you know how she can be."  
"What did she do?" I asked in wonder.  
"You could tell she'd been drinking because her eyes were bloodshot and she still wasn't walking strait, she took one look at me and sent me to In School Suspension for who knows what reason."  
"That really stinks." I said as he flipped the grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate and handed it to me. He took his and sat on the opposite side of the table, munching loudly on the sandwich.  
"So what kind of classes do they have here?" I asked.  
"Pretty much everything, they have normal classes like in a normal school so you won't get too far behind I guess. Then they have classes focusing on your powers and how to keep them from acting up and how to make them work and stuff like that." He replied. I noticed that no one else was here besides the two of us, looking at the clock, it read noon.  
"Why are we the only ones here if it's around lunch time?" I asked.  
"The people who were in the Danger Room are probably showering to relieve themselves of there weariness. Storm, Xavier, Scott, Logan, and Rogue are in the infirmary checking on the new mutant.  
"Oh! Is he all right? What are his powers?" I asked excitedly, finally someone in my situation, someone I could relate too who had no idea what they were doing.  
"I'm not sure, but once they're done questioning they might tell you if you asked."  
"Yay! I'm so excited!" I cried as I shoved the rest of the grilled cheese sandwich into my mouth. At that very moment the crowd who had been talking with the new mutant entered the room, in my frenzy I immediately started asking questions.  
"What's his name? What are his powers? Where's he from? Was he abandoned? Can I talk to him to? How's he doing? Is he going to stay here?"  
The crowd paused, all startled at the bombarding of questions.  
"Easy Jess, easy." Chris laughed.  
Logan turned to me and in a gruff voice replied, "His name is Jordan, he has the power to send magnetic wave lengths to effect electronic structures, we don't know where he is from, or if he was abandoned. You can't talk to him until we find out if he is a good guy or not, he is doing fine though, and I'm not sure if he is staying or not." He said this in such a calm, monotonous tone that it almost shocked me. His cool blue eyes baring into mine as if he were looking into my very soul.  
"Oh," I replied in a slightly overwhelmed voice.  
Now that I was no longer the center of the conversation, people went into their own little groups and talked. Before I could put my plate in the dishwasher the rest of the ones who were in the Danger Room came in, in fresh clothes, some with their hair still wet. Kitty and Nightcrawler sat down at the table too. Jean and Scott went to their own corner. Logan, Rogue, and Storm were in their own group sitting around the island in the center of the Kitchen, and once that was done, Beast and Xavier walked in, if it could get any more crowded I certainly wouldn't believe it. I put my plate in the dishwasher as soon as I could and walked out of the room, maybe there would be a good movie playing on TV or something. I sat down in a chair and grabbed the remote off of the floor next to me, flipping through the channels I settled on the news, wondering what was going on in the world these days without me to revolve around. A lady with very tan skin and blond hair was infront of the screen and in the corner of the blue background behind her was a picture of a teenager. It was the guy I had seen just a while ago, the one Logan carried into the mansion. It was Jordan.  
The woman began to speak, and I almost didn't believe it.  
"Keep on the lookout for this man, Jordan Betigo, accused of murdering 2 people in an apartment building, officials are not sure how yet. This person is armed and has been sited in many stores around the area and also accused of shoplifting, and injuring people who get in his way. Stay clear of him and if you see him, report to authorities immediately, this is Kate Anderson reporting to you live, now for the weather." I quickly ran out of my chair and into the kitchen again. I wanted to just yell it out to everyone, but it was too loud, too many people were in the kitchen. I sought out Xavier next to Beast and walked hastily over to him.  
"Can I talk to you outside?" I almost yelled above the noise of everyone. He nodded and excused everyone in the way of his wheelchair.  
"Do you need something?" He asked.  
In a rushed voice I summarized everything that the news reporter had said.  
"Are you sure of this?"  
"Yes! They said his name was Jordan Betigo, and the picture looked just like him!" I said frantically, maybe it would be a good idea not to meet this guy after all.  
"Ok, thank you for telling me. Please don't meet with him, I don't want anyone hurt." He replied seriously, I nodded in definite agreement. He wheeled himself back into the kitchen as if nothing had happened and I sat back down into the chair. Deciding to pick a different show. 


	9. Chapter 9

It seemed that the news I had given Xavier didn't spread, I was glad, I didn't want everyone to know, it might make him do something crazy. I was wandering down the halls, randomly choosing hallways for no apparent reason when I walked right into him.  
Jordan was just heading out of the infirmary, the doors shutting behind him. I froze in my tracks, I'm standing in a hall with a murderer, I thought as he took notice of me. He smiled at me, he didn't look to bad, that might have been an understatement. He had dark brown, wavy hair, growing down past his eyes. His eyes were deep pools of bright, electric blue. He was fairly tall and muscular.  
"Hi, I'm Jordan," He smiled and walked closer to me. Just pretend I don't know he did anything, I thought as I smiled back.  
"I'm Jessica, what's up?"  
"I was just cleared from the infirmary, I figured I would just walk around a little bit and get to know the place if I'm stuck living here for a while and all."  
"Hey, I got here only a few days ago, you can walk with me, I all ready know where some rooms are."  
"Thanks," He said.  
Together we roamed the hallways, I was nervous the whole time, what if he lost control of his powers again? What if he wanted to kill me like the 2 people in the apartment? I walked tensely down the halls and jumped when he finally broke the silence.  
"So what are your powers?" He asked. Should I tell him? Should he know what my powers are? He murdered people!  
"I'm not that sure actually," I quickly lied, "I just freak out sometimes, you know? Like I can't breathe, and my eyes change, it's really weird, but I guess I've never fully mutated before, if that makes any sense."  
"That's weird," He frowned slightly.  
"So how long do you plan to stay here?" I changed the subject as fast as possible.  
"As soon as I get control over my powers, I am outta here! I already can control them somewhat, it's only when I get really mad or get really upset or something." He frowned again.  
I decided to take him to the kitchens where I was sure everyone was having dinner by now, I had eaten early. That way he could talk to someone else and leave me alone.  
Sure enough, when we reached the kitchens, Xavier and Beast were there. I walked in quietly and Jordan followed. Xavier looked up and smiled at us, I half grimaced back.  
"Jordan, good to see you are doing well, have a seat, Beast was just fixing burgers. Do you want one Jess?"  
"No thanks, I already ate, I'll catch you guys later." I waved, Jordan waved goodbye and I walked out of the kitchen. Breathing a sigh of relief I walked back into the TV room and flipped on the TV again. There was nothing on, boredom crept over me. Too bad it wasn't Monday, that way I could be having a class, something to occupy my mind. I turned off the TV and went wandering aimlessly through the halls.  
I went slowly down my hall, when a door opened and out came Chris from his room.  
"Hey!" I said so that he could notice me. He turned with a slightly startled expression on his face, but soon recovered.  
"Oh, hey," he said nonchalantly, waving me over to him. Something was different though, in his eyes, I couldn't tell what.  
"What's wrong?" I asked with a worried expression, if anyone messed with him I would be sure to rip that person to shreds.  
"Nothing," He said hesitantly, I was shocked, he was holding something back and he had never done that with me before, "Where are you going?"  
"Nowhere, I was just going to my room," I decided, I was right outside my door anyway, and he right outside his.  
"Oh, Ok, well I guess I'll see you later," He replied and waved goodbye as he turned and walked down the hall, leaving me to go to my room. Something was definitely wrong with him, but I couldn't put a finger on it. I shut my room door and flung myself on my bed, the ceiling became a wide screen playing back the day. I wonder how long Chris has actually been here? I would have to ask him. I glanced at the clock, it was 6:38, I would have to stay awake or else I would wake up at like, 4 in the morning or something like that. My eyes flickered, I had to stay awake, I had to. I forced my eyes open, the ceiling started to spin. Stay awake. . .  
  
"Hey Jess! I came to show you the grounds before we go to bed!" Kitty said as she knocked on the door, "Jessica?" She stuck her head through the door and saw her lying on her bed, in her mermaid form. Gasping she turned and ran from the room.  
"Professor Xavier! Come quick! Jessica!" She cried as she ran to his office and through his door, he was looking over some papers before lifting his head.  
"Something's wrong with her! She's blacked out or something and is like, lying as a mermaid on her bed!" Kitty cried worriedly, Xavier gave a worried frown.  
"Run down to the lab and fill the large tank with salt water, if she stays long in normal water she won't get the right nutrients." He said as Kitty held the door for him and he wheeled his way to Jessica's room, in his mind saying, "Jean, come quickly, and bring Mr. McCoy."  
"I'm coming," He heard in his head as he wheeled quickly towards her room.  
"Jessica," He tried to contact her, but she never heard she couldn't hear him for some reason, and if she had, she couldn't respond. He reached her room, Jean and Beast were all ready there, opening her door. Jean let out a gasp as she saw Jessica's mutant form slide off of the bed and thud on the floor, she could hear her rasped breath for water.  
"We need to get her to the tank, now." Jean said hurriedly.  
"I got her," Beast said as he picked her up gently and put her over his shoulder. Her jeans we ripped where her legs had formed together and hung uselessly at her waist. Beast loped ahead of Xavier and Jean as he headed quickly through the halls to the tank. Those who were in the halls looked worriedly at them as they saw Beast running by with a mermaid over his shoulder. Nightcrawler appeared ahead of the hallway.  
"Dr. McCoy, I can take her, it will be faster," He said quickly. Beast ran up to him.  
"Put her in the tank, Kitty should have filled it, there isn't much time." He replied, handing Jessica into Nightcrawlers arms. All of a sudden, he vanished from the hallway.  
Reappearing in the lab, Kitty had just finished filling the large tank with salt water.  
"Quickly! Put her in!" Kitty almost yelled at Nightcrawler in frenzy as he transported to the edge of the tank and slowly lowered her in, her scaled were starting to dry, and her heart rate had begun to slow. Xavier appeared in the doorway, Beast and Jean directly behind him.  
"What's wrong with her?" Nightcrawler asked.  
"All the stress of this past week must have made her lose control, who knows when she will gain it again." Xavier said sorrowfully, "I will stay with her though, another professor with have to teach my classes, I need to keep trying to talk with her, to see if I can help her gain control again." He took his wheelchair nearer to the tank and lowered his head, as if to sleep.  
"Tell me when she gets better?" Kitty asked.  
"Yes, I will, in the mean time don't worry about it, she will come to in a while." Xavier replied. "This coma may not last long, I hope," He said this almost to himself, but Kurt heard it as he set himself in a darker corner of the room, waiting hopelessly that Jessica would wake up and be all right.  
"You can leave too, Kurt, she won't go anywhere." Xavier said once everyone had left the room.  
"No, I will stay." He said simply, "I won't bother you." 


	10. Chapter 10

They both sat there, head in their hands, waiting desperately for Jessica to awake. Nightcrawler stayed in the shadows, his bright eyes glowing sadly, Xavier stayed next to the glass tank, trying to contact her.  
"Jessica,"  
No response, he sat quietly in his wheelchair. A tingling suddenly itched in the back of his mind. She had awakened, Xavier looked up at her floating in the middle of the tank. Her eyes were still closed, and her breathing was still very subtle and weak. Speaking to her now could make her go into shock from the abrupt voice in her head.  
"Kurt," Xavier whispered, Nightcrawler's head shot up out of his hands to gaze at the professor questioningly. Xavier waved him over and Nightcrawler slowly stood and walked to his side. "She has awakened, she is only sleeping now, she hasn't eaten anything since she went into the tank. Would you tell Kitty she has come to, and call Jean and Beast in please." He said in a low voice to not disturb Jessica of her now deep sleep.  
"Right away, Professor!" Nightcrawler happily smiled to him, and then to Jessica as he ran from the room. The door never closed though, and Chris walked in. Looking sadly at Jessica she walked down to the Professor.  
"What happened?" He asked, almost casually.  
"I'm not exactly sure, she went into a coma four days ago."  
"So she was here the whole time and no one told me?" Anger filled Chris' voice.  
"You didn't ask, you didn't seem to worry." Xavier replied in a cold, calm voice. There was a silence in the room, Chris paused before stalking out of the lab again. The door closed just as a sigh escaped from the tank.  
"Ah, you are awake at last." Xavier spoke to her mind. Jessica looked at her hands, they had grown more webbed looking, but not abnormal. She looked sadly at her fin, green scales shimmering in the salty water. Her pants that were ripped were on the base of the tank, not eating for four days made her lose weight. She looked at the shirt she was wearing, it rippled around her with the water. Letting out a sigh, she looked startled and felt her neck, gills had appeared there, where she breathed now instead of her nose and mouth.  
"What is wrong with me?" Her voice rang like a whale song, vibrating through the water, sad and low.  
"You are a mutant, Jessica, this is what you are." Xavier replied, "But with later training, you can get control and be this whenever you want to, and have a choice about it."  
She nodded understandingly in the water, her face emotionless and her eyes looking around the tank. Her eyes were different now, the white around her eye had turned black, and the color of her eye had turned very white, leaving the pupil to shine lustrously in the center.  
The water shivered and vibrated with her voice, "How do I go back?"  
"Concentrate on your human form, control your breathing, and clear everything from your mind. But don't do it just yet," Xavier spoke to her through his mind, she wouldn't hear him if he spoke aloud.  
  
  
I looked sadly at my fin again, what am I? How did I end up like this? I felt my face, atleast it was the same. I heard something vibrate the water, unknowingly, I swam awkwardly to the glass edge. I hadn't yet figured out how to swim with a fin yet. Looking out, I saw a blurry door open and two figures come in, the door closing behind them. One figure was large and blue, Beast. The other was taller than I, with a red head, Jean, unless someone was wearing a red hat. It was hard to see anything not in the water. Mumbled voices sounded outside the tank, I could hear one directed at me, but I just couldn't hear.  
"Jean asked you if you would like us to leave while you transform back," Xavier's voice sounded in my head. I then came to realize that I had no pants on.  
"That would be nice," I smiled, the water shaking the glass. I ran my tongue over my teeth, they were normal except for my canine teeth, which were like shark's teeth, very sharp, my smile must have looked very sinister.  
The door opened and closed again, Jean sat on the floor where Xavier's wheelchair had been. Her voice all of a sudden boomed in my head,  
"Are you ready?" She asked.  
"Yes, but please whisper," I winced as the voice echoed in my head.  
In a now whispering voice, Jean said, "Ok, concentrate on your human form, without the gills, and without the fin. Concentrate on your breathing, or your heart beat and keep it steady." Her voice dulled in my head as my heart beat steadily in my chest. I thought of my human form, my teeth not so pointy, my fin as a pair of legs instead. Slowly, I felt something happen, a tingling in my fin. I concentrated harder, I could feel them mutating, I couldn't watch. They became a pair of legs again, and I swam normally now. Concentrating on my heartbeat, I started to choke on the water and swam quickly to the surface of the tank. My nose seemed to open as I gasped for breath, cold air filling my lungs like sweet candy in my mouth. I looked around, everything was fuzzy, I blinked and soon my eyes dilated back to the way they were. Jean stood from where she was seated, I hadn't noticed the towel that she brought for me. Climbing out of the large tank, I found a set of metal stairs to the floor.  
"Here," Jean said simply, placing the towel over my shoulders. "I left a set of clothes that I stole from your dresser, I'll guard the door for you." She ruffled my hair like I was a child and left.  
While dressing I looked back, I really was as helpless as a child. I couldn't even keep myself from changing into a mermaid.  
I was rubbing the towel on my head to dry my hair when there was a knock on the door. I'm sure I looked absolutely ridiculous, with my hair very ruffled and messy. When they came in after I said they could, it was Xavier, Beast, and Jean.  
"Nice to see that you are doing well, Jessica," Xavier said, "You must be hungry from not eating for 4 days strait. It's almost time for dinner anyway, so you can head that way now.  
"Thanks," I replied, "I'll brush my hair first though." I placed a hand atop the frizz and folded up the towel and my wet shirt.  
I walked to my room, the others had gone on to the kitchen. I opened the door and who would be in there but Jordan Betigo.  
"Hello?" I asked as I entered my own room.  
"Oh, hi, everyone was leaving you cards, and I wanted to leave you one before I came, but it looks like I was too late." He smiled sheepishly as he pulled a card out of his pocket and placed it on her dresser.  
"Well," I paused slightly, "Thanks," I smiled at him, hoping he didn't have anything else in mind. He smiled back at her, his blue eyes shining brightly, though not touched by his smile. He walked over to me, as if he meant to do something. I took a step inside, leaving the exit wide open for him. He reached out his hand, as if to touch me, but as he approached, his hand grasped the frame of the door as he swung out into the hallway.  
Something was definitely brewing in his mind, I closed the door quietly, and locked it in an afterthought. Going over to my dresser, I left the cards alone for now. Brushing my hair as quickly as possible was my main priority before eating. Food, I hadn't eaten in 4 days, my stomach grumbled furiously, I looked down at my stomach, as if I thought I could get any skinnier, my ribs showed horribly now, and my arms were frail and skinny. I had no idea that anyone could lose this much weight in only 4 days.  
Grabbing a clump of hair, I began to brush, but something was different about my hair.  
10 minutes later I looked in the mirror, it had taken that long just to brush my hair. Suprisingly enough, my hair was atleast a foot longer then it had been a week ago. It now hung past my waist, what was going on? I definitely couldn't win a swim meet with this hair, it wouldn't even fit in my cap.  
I really didn't care at this moment, I needed food, and I was already becoming faint with the lack of energy. Walking down the hallway, the blood started to rush from my head, I leaned on the wall for support and slowed down. Fuzz filled my fission like a messed up TV channel. Groaning, I was becoming nauseated. Food, I need it. I heard a door open, barely, my legs grew weak and I fell. Completely blind at this moment, I laid there, waiting for the blood to come back to my head.  
"Jessica? Is that you?" I heard Nightcrawler's voice from above my head.  
"Oh, yes," I groaned.  
"What's wrong?" I heard the worry in his voice.  
"Not eating for 4 days, I can't even seem to walk down a hallway these days." I groaned.  
"Do you want any help?" He asked, the pride I have swirled inside of me.  
"No, I don't need help," I said stubbornly as I quickly stood up again, the blood flowing from my head again and I stumbled. Letting out a small yelp I fell, caught in a pair of arms.  
"Are you all right?" I heard his voice say, though I couldn't see him. I could feel myself about to faint, I couldn't loose it, I couldn't turn into a mermaid again. I concentrated on my breathing.  
"Ok," I whispered, "Go ahead." I couldn't see him acknowledge anything I said, but all of a sudden I felt a gust of wind blow around my face, and blinding light shone through my closed eyes.  
"There you are," He said, and set me in a chair, I opened my eyes and rested my head on the table, my new, long hair fluttered down onto my lap.  
"Are you doing all right?" Logan asked in his ruff voice.  
"Yeah, just starving," I replied weakly.  
  



	11. Chapter 11

There were only a few people in the kitchen luckily, my head was echoing with every noise made. Beast was there, as well as Xavier, Logan, Jean and Nightcrawler.  
"You haven't eaten for 4 days straight so don't be afraid to pig out!" Nightcrawler said whole-heartedly. I smiled at him as he took a seat at the table beside me. He saw me and smiled back.  
"I'll fix you something, you don't look well enough to do anything right now," Jean said as politely as possible as she dug through the refrigerator. I closed my eyes, the noise around me was being magnified and pounded against my head. I started to choke, no, I couldn't now. My heart thudded in my chest, I let it be the only thing in my mind. The center of my thoughts, I stopped choking and opened my eyes. Nightcrawler was staring at me, his head tilted to stare at me.  
"Are you all right?"  
"Yeah, I'm starting to get a grip on myself I think, all I have to do is get to the point where it doesn't sneak up on me." I replied in a low, hoarse voice.  
"Ugh! We don't have anything but Pancake mix!" Jean cried in exasperation.  
"Pancakes! Yes, I haven't had pancakes in ages!" I cried, almost lifting my head off of the table, but it was too heavy. Jean looked at me with almost a worried look.  
"Pancakes for lunch. . ." She mumbled to herself as she got out a pan to make them. "I'll make the whole mix, there are 8 servings per bag. . ."  
I could feel my headache slipping away, I sighed peacefully, the first relaxing moment this week.  
"Professor Xavier says that you shouldn't start your training until next week, when you have all your strength back," Nightcrawler told her, "But at this rate, you'll have complete control of your gift by then!" He smiled as I laughed.  
After 5 minutes or so Jean gave a warning before flipping 4 pancakes onto a plate in the center of the table. Syrup had been placed there without me knowing. I grabbed two so Nightcrawler could have some and bathed the pancakes in a loud of syrup. I almost ate them with my fingers in all my hunger, but let myself cut the pancakes in fourths and stuff them in my mouth.  
"Don't choke," Nightcrawler laughed as he placed syrup on his own pancake. I snorted over my second pancake as Jean flipped over another 4 pancakes.  
"How many do you think you will want, Kurt?" Jean asked as she put more batter into the pan.  
"2 more, they're all ready on the table," He smiled as he started on his second one.  
"And you, Jess?"  
"I have no idea," I smiled between gathering another 2 pancakes off the plate.  
"As long as I get 3. . ." Jean mumbled to herself.  
Within 15 minutes I had eaten all of the pancakes besides what Jean and Kurt ate. After I was finished, most of the syrup was gone and I sat hunched over my swelling stomach.  
"You ate 30 pancakes, THIRTY!" Jean smiled in a fake exasperated tone. Nightcrawler shook his head in disbelief though he had been watching me stuff my face the whole time.  
"Is that enough for you?" Nightcrawler smiled.  
"For now," I jokingly replied, I stifled a yawn as I weakly stood from my chair, "Man, not using my legs for 4 whole days made them get weak," I grumbled as I slowly started to walk out of the kitchen. My legs and arms had thinned considerably since I had gone into my comma.  
"Do you need any help?" Nightcrawler asked.  
"No," I smiled back at him.  
"That's what you said last time," He joked.  
"No, really, I got it this time," I replied and left the kitchen, "I'm going to bed."  
  
Nightcrawler watched as she left the kitchen, her long brown hair flowing softly down her back to her waist. He sighed softly to himself as he turned back, his back thudding softly against the chair. Jean was eating her last pancake, staring at Nightcrawler, a smile reaching her lips. Nightcrawler took sight and asked, "Why are you smiling?"  
"I know," She almost laughed.  
  
I finally reached my room, hopefully no one would be in it this time. I opened the door, all was the same, except the new cards on my dresser. Except for one thing, a box was sitting by the foot of my bed. It was from my parents! I ran to it clumsily and opened the lid, it was my stereo, with 3 CD slots, 2 tape players, an AM/FM radio and two large sound systems with my remote. They had also sent all of my CD's and Tapes. This was very exciting, I put the stereo behind my alarm clock beside my bed and my collection in one of the cabinets below the table. Weariness took me and I collapsed on the bed, sleep taking me once my head hit the pillow. 


End file.
